[PCA] NEWS: The monarch massacre: Nearly a billion butterflies have vanished

Wed Feb 18 09:52:10 CST 2015

The recent FWS headline does say it all.  The ESA petition has clearly  
already helped give the Monarch attention it deserves and the FWS, in  
its attempts now to avoid listing anything at all costs, will be  
taking actions that it otherwise would not have taken.  So the  
petition has clearly already had a beneficial impact.

And, yes, protecting existing Asclepias sites in situ is key as well  
as encouraging landowners/agencies to use locally native Asclepias  
species (and not what Rose Franklin sells) in restoration projects.

While on the one hand I understand and appreciate some of Rose  
Franklin's concerns, clearly her comments are "over the top" and  
skewed.    I suspect those wanting to be involved with research and  
raising Monarchs in classrooms would really not fall under the do not  
"harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap" language of the  
ESA.   Exceptions by rule/regulation etc. are possible.  The ESA is  
not as rigid as some would have you believe.  And the FWS really  
doesn't have funding for enforcement officers to check on and show up  
in every classroom to "harass" students or teachers that may be  
studying Monarchs:  their few resources realistically are obviously  
focused elsewhere and stretched incredibly thin.   Those kind of  
classroom activities however might need some amount of coordination  
and oversight perhaps to be truly helpful, and under the guise of some  
kind of monitoring plan rather than just doing whatever they want.

She omits the fact that ESA also protects against interfering in  
essential breeding and behavioral activities as well as in degrading  
critical habitat.  To large degree, her philosophy continues to drive  
this regrettable ESA fear/phobia that the even FWS itself is promoting.

The ESA is not a club (i.e. a big stick).  It is rather a useful  
conservation tool.

Being free to release Monarchs at "weddings, anniversaries, open  
houses, memorial services, and fund-raising events" should really not  
be the focus of concern here.

Would she also have objected to the Karner Blue Butterfly's listing  
(which zoos are propagating and releasing)?   Has ESA designation been  
detrimental to that species?   (True, the Monarch is migratory and  
wide-ranging, the Karner Blue is not, but some of the same principles  
still apply.)

Tony Frates
Salt Lake City, Utah

Quoting Kirsten Johnson <kirsten2622 at comcast.net>:

> I also note that the Rose Franklin has had 10-12  volunteers pop up.  
>  This is not a small number when viewed over the many decades that  
> it  has taken for some of our exotic species to become nuisances.
>
>> On Feb 13, 2015, at 9:37 PM, Karen Blumer <growingwild at optonline.net> wrote:
>>
>> Unfortunately much of the thrust of our efforts as a community is   
>> in planting to begin with, and so we have these endless, albeit   
>> helpful, conversations. As an alternative to protecting native   
>> local genotypes, we on Long Island are working on a Heritage   
>> Milkweed Program focussed on preserving Asclepius in situ, for a   
>> start on County publicly owned sites. This brings attention to what  
>>  is growing already in the wild and preserves the patches that,  
>> once  identified and showcased, grow like topsy. There is also an   
>> opportunity for private properties to be located on the database   
>> for those who wish to landscape their sites by designing with   
>> volunteers from the wild blended with garden elements already there.
>>
>> Karen Blumer
>> Shoreham, NY
>>
>>
>>> On Feb 13, 2015, at 3:18 PM, Geyer, Dorothy <dorothy_geyer at nps.gov  
>>>  <mailto:dorothy_geyer at nps.gov>> wrote:
>>>
>>> She also has very little host and nectar plants that are native,   
>>> which according to Doug Tallamy is critical to the health of all   
>>> butterflies.  Its nice to see that she is selling common milkweed   
>>> though.
>>>
>>> On Wed, Feb 11, 2015 at 9:02 PM, Steve Erickson <wean at whidbey.net   
>>> <mailto:wean at whidbey.net>> wrote:
>>> I notice that this person is peddling Buddliea davidii. While she   
>>> does include a disclaimer about there being states she can?t ship   
>>> to, she does not disclose why (the seriously invasive nature of   
>>> this species). This lack of consciousness (or knowledge?)   
>>> immediately makes me seriously question her arguments for why   
>>> listing per the ESA would be bad for Monarchs. Note that she   
>>> ignores that if listed, impacts to Monarchs would have to be   
>>> addressed in the pesticide registration and renewal process. And a  
>>>  lawsuit requiring the same for approval of pesticide  
>>> manufacturing  GMOs would likely be successful. So, if the  
>>> widespread planting of  these GMOs is negatively impacting  
>>> Monarchs, this will provide a  legal mechanism to address that.
>>>
>>> -Steve
>>>
>>> =========================================
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2/11/15 at 1:37 PM, SMITHCATH at ecu.edu   
>>> <mailto:SMITHCATH at ecu.edu> (Smith, Catherine) wrote:
>>>
>>> Adding to the conversation. . . .
>>>
>>> For another perspective, read Rose Franklin's  "Plausible Negative  
>>>  Consequences of Protecting the Monarch Under the Endangered   
>>> Specieis Act" at  www.butterflybushes.com/press_room.htm   
>>> <http://www.butterflybushes.com/press_room.htm>
>>>
>>> For a perspective on planting milkweed, read "Which Milkweed to   
>>> Plant for the Monarchs?" also at   
>>> www.butterflybushes.com/press_room.htm   
>>> <http://www.butterflybushes.com/press_room.htm>
>>> Franklin is author of Fast Track Butterfly Gardening.  She gardens  
>>>  for butterflies including monarchs in central Pennsylvania.
>>>
>>> Catherine F. Smith
>>> Spring Mills PA
>>>
>>>
>>> ________________________________________
>>> From: native-plants   
>>> [native-plants-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org   
>>> <mailto:native-plants-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org>] on   
>>> behalf of Kwong, Olivia [okwong at blm.gov <mailto:okwong at blm.gov>]
>>> Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2015 9:39 AM
>>> To: native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org   
>>> <mailto:native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org>
>>> Subject: [PCA] NEWS: The monarch massacre: Nearly a billion   
>>> butterflies have    vanished
>>>
>>> http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/02/09/the-   
>>> <http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/02/09/the->
>>> monarch-massacre-nearly-a-billion-butterflies-have-vanished/
>>>
>>> The monarch massacre: Nearly a billion butterflies have vanished
>>> By Darryl Fears
>>> February 9 at 4:47 PM
>>> The Washington Post
>>>
>>> Threatened animals like elephants, porpoises and lions grab all   
>>> the headlines, but what?s happening to monarch butterflies is   
>>> nothing short of a massacre. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service   
>>> summed it up in just one grim statistic on Monday: Since 1990,   
>>> about 970 million have vanished.
>>>
>>> See the link above for the full article text.
>>>
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>>> --
>>> Dorothy Geyer
>>> Natural Resource Specialist
>>> Colonial National Historical Park
>>> PO Box 210
>>> Yorktown, VA 23690
>>>
>>> (757) 898-2433 (O)
>>> (757) 876-7689 (C)
>>>
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>>
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>
>